Where We Buy: Retail Real Estate with James Cook

Jay Douglas is Managing Director of Development at The Ardent Companies, a privately held real estate firm focused on opportunistic and diversified investment strategies, where he leads the mixed use and retail portfolio. Jay talks about projects including Westside Bottling in Durham, the Seminole Towne Center repositioning in Sanford anchored by a new Costco, and a small food and beverage development in Largo anchored by Foxtail Coffee Co. He also covers grocery anchored lifestyle centers, placemaking, entertainment tenants, and why retail should lead mixed use.
James Cook is the Head of Retail Research for JLL. 
Keisha Virtue is the Retail Research Manager in the Americas for JLL.
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify 
Listen: WhereWeBuy.show 
Email: jamesd.cook@jll.com 
YouTube: http://everythingweknow.show/
Read more retail research here:  http://www.us.jll.com/retail
Theme music is Run in the Night by The Good Lawdz, under Creative Commons license.

Elizabeth Boldin Thomas is SVP of Business Transformation and Intelligence at Centennial. She talks about how the company rolled out Claude to a small cross-functional cohort, why in-person training and a group of internal influencers made the difference, and how the effort has already saved roughly 2,800 person hours a year. She also covers the distinction between AI and automation, the weekly show and tell that keeps momentum going, and why the human side of change management matters more than the technology.
James Cook is the Head of Retail Research for JLL. 
Keisha Virtue is the Retail Research Manager in the Americas for JLL.
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify 
Listen: WhereWeBuy.show 
Email: jamesd.cook@jll.com 
YouTube: http://everythingweknow.show/
Read more retail research here:  http://www.us.jll.com/retail
Theme music is Run in the Night by The Good Lawdz, under Creative Commons license.

Lauren Holden is Managing Director, Head of Retail at AEW, one of the world's largest real estate investment managers, with about $40 billion under management in the US. Holden discusses AEW's retail portfolio of roughly 45 assets and 10.5 million square feet, from enclosed malls to grocery anchored neighborhood centers, and why the community center is her favorite property type. She also covers the firm's move into ground-up development, how it finds deals in a tough acquisitions market, the role of food and beverage in driving dwell time, and what she looks for when hiring a leasing or management firm.
James Cook is the Director of Retail Research in the Americas for JLL. 
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify 
Listen: WhereWeBuy.show 
Email: jamesd.cook@jll.com 
YouTube: http://everythingweknow.show/
Read more retail research here:  http://www.us.jll.com/retail
Theme music is Run in the Night by The Good Lawdz, under Creative Commons license.

Alim Uderbekov is CEO and Co-Founder of Surfaice, an AI operating system built for the full retail store lifecycle, from lease administration and CAM reconciliation to construction budgeting, punch walks, and facility management. Speaking live from the ICSC PropTech stage in Las Vegas, Uderbekov explains how pre-trained agents plug into a company's existing systems to eliminate repetitive work — by his count, roughly a million clicks to open a single store. He also discusses trust and adoption barriers in commercial real estate, his path from aerospace engineering to retail, and The Store Development AI Playbook: A Field Guide, co-authored with Schaefer Jones of the JD Sports Fashion store development team.
 
James Cook is the Head of Retail Research for JLL. 
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify 
Listen: WhereWeBuy.show 
Email: jamesd.cook@jll.com 
YouTube: http://everythingweknow.show/
Read more retail research here:  http://www.us.jll.com/retail
Theme music is Run in the Night by The Good Lawdz, under Creative Commons license.

Davon Barbour is President and CEO of the Downtown Austin Alliance, the organization representing over 1,200 property owners in one of the fastest-growing downtowns in America. Barbour discusses Austin's rise to the 12th largest city in the U.S., the $20 billion in public infrastructure projects reshaping downtown, and the new convention center that will be the first net zero carbon neutral facility of its kind in the world. He also covers efforts to attract experiential retail, support local businesses through construction disruption, and preserve the authentic culture of live music and local food that makes Austin unique.
James Cook is the Director of Retail Research in the Americas for JLL. 
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify 
Listen: WhereWeBuy.show 
Email: jamesd.cook@jll.com 
YouTube: http://everythingweknow.show/
Read more retail research here:  http://www.us.jll.com/retail
Theme music is Run in the Night by The Good Lawdz, under Creative Commons license.